FIM Moto2 World Championship
Brno, Czech Republic
August 17, 2014
Race Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires):
1. Esteve “Tito” RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 20 laps, 41:05.058
2. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), -3.274 seconds
3. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), -6.227
4. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), -8.083
5. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), -8.145
6. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KALEX), -9.392
7. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), -10.669
8. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (KALEX), -14.561
9. Johann ZARCO, France (CATERHAM SUTER), -15.242
10. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (TECH 3), -17.170
11. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), -21.328
12. Simone CORSI, Italy (KALEX), -21.534
13. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), -21.686
14. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (SUTER), -21.985
15. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX), -22.144
16. Louis ROSSI, France (KALEX), -23.588
17. Mattia PASINI, Italy (KALEX), -23.865
18. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), -23.960
19. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), -25.367
20. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (TECH 3), -25.719
21. Josh HERRIN, USA (CATERHAM SUTER), -33.473
22. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), -33.890
23. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (SUTER), -34.152
24. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), -34.307
25. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), -34.575
26. Gino REA, UK (SUTER), -36.821
27. Roman RAMOS, Spain (SPEED UP), -50.747
28. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (KALEX), -61.646
29. Thitipong WAROKORN, Thailand (KALEX), -61.765
30. Robin MULHAUSER, Switzerland (SUTER), -99.362, crash
31. Lucas MAHIAS, France (TRANSFIORMERS), -120.810, crash
32. Luis SALOM, Spain (KALEX), -5 laps, DNF, crash
33. Miroslav POPOV, Czech Republic (SUTER), -12 laps, DNF, crash
34. Sam LOWES, UK (SPEED UP), -13 laps, DNF, crash
35. Tetsuta NAGASHIMA, Japan (TSR), -17 laps, DNF, crash
36. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, Italy (SUTER), 20 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 11 of 18 races):
1. Rabat, 208 points
2. Kallio, 196
3. Vinales, 150
4. Aegerter, 123
5. Corsi, 100
6. Luthi, 81
7. West, 65
8. Salom, 62
9. Zarco, 59
10. Cortese, 58
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:
Rabat checks out at Brno
Brno, Czech Republic – 17 August 2014: Moto2 World Championship leader Tito Rabat’s perfect weekend at Brno was capped with a dominant win in today’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic.
The 25-year-old Spaniard secured his seventh pole of the season on Saturday with a new outright circuit record and then posted a new lap record on the way to his fifth win of the season today.
Mika Kallio made it a Marc VDS one-two on the podium, after overcoming technical issues encountered during practice and qualifying to take second place behind his Marc VDS teammate.
Jorge Navarro’s race ended in the gravel trap at the first turn after just one lap, when he was hit from behind by John McPhee. Starting from 19th on the grid, Navarro fought his way through the field on the opening lap, before passing Romano Fenati and McPhee on the main straight to move up to 11th position. As McPhee tried to retake the position, he hit the back of Navarro’s Kalex-KTM causing both riders to crash.
Tito Rabat // Race Winner
“I’m very happy to be back on the top step of the podium here in Brno. I think together me and the team have done a good job, finding a solution to every problem encountered and improving the bike in every session. The win today was also an important one for me, as the last three races didn’t really go in my favour, so it’s good to get back to winning again. Now I will enjoy today, but tomorrow we start to work again so that we’re ready for the next race at Silverstone.”
Mika Kallio // 2nd
“The day didn’t start so well with the crash in warm up, but we then decided to gamble on going back to last years settings on the front, which is something we hadn’t tried this weekend. I could tell immediately on the warm up lap that it was the right decision, as the feeling with the front that is so important for me was much better. I knew Tito was going to attack from the start, so I pushed hard to get into a position to chase him, but he’d already pulled out a gap at the front by the time I was through into second. I tried to close the gap but it was pretty obvious that, barring a mistake, I wasn’t going to catch him. At half race distance I decided to play it safe and take the all-important points for second and, given the issues this weekend, I think we can be satisfied with that.”
Jorge Navarro // DNF
“I am very sad, because this is not how I wanted to finish the race today. My objective here was to get more experience on the bike and try to be in the first group. I think we have done a good job all weekend. We have improved my lap times and, most importantly, my feeling with the bike in every session. In the race I felt good, made up eight places on the opening lap and felt confident about reaching the first group. At the start of the second lap I passed Fenati and McPhee on the straight, giving me the inside line at turn one, but then I was hit from behind and crashed. It’s a disappointing end to what looked to be a promising weekend, but now we need to put it behind us and focus on the next race at Silverstone.”
Michael Bartholemy // Team Principal
“Tito was determined to regain the upper hand in the championship this weekend and I don’t think he could have done it more emphatically. Two new circuit records, his seventh pole of the season and a dominant win today has sent a clear message to everyone – especially Mika – that he’s prepared to fight for this title. Mika also rode a superb race after a difficult couple of days and two crashes here in Brno and I’m sure he’ll be looking to turn the tables on his teammate in two weeks time at Silverstone. I know Jorge is disappointed to have crashed out of the race today, but his progress once again has been impressive. He improves every time he gets on the bike and in the race he’d gone from 19th to 11th in just one lap, before being hit and crashing out of the race. I’m happy with his approach and his style; we’re here for racing, not dancing.”
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:
Brno Grand Prix Race Report
Circuit: Automotodrom Brno
Circuit Length: 5.403 m
Race Length: 20 laps
Weather
Race: Dry; (air temp) 17°, (track temp) 26°
With an improved set up on the #5 Caterham Suter, Johann Zarco made a good start before picking up the pace and lapping consistently in the low 2m3s. Despite being unable to close the gap on the leading group, the Frenchman put up a fight to stay in the top ten and cross the line in ninth place.
Starting from the eleventh row, Josh Herrin pushed hard to make up for his difficult qualifying session. Battling through the field the Moto2 rookie achieved his quickest lap time of the weekend, claiming twelve places in the process and finishing just outside of the top twenty.
#5 Johann Zarco: P9
“Starting from twelfth position and finishing ninth is quite good and I can be happy because we had a difficult weekend. From practice we struggled with the setting of the bike and finally we got back the good feeling, but a bit too late.
“I fought a lot at the beginning of the race. All riders were aggressive but me too, so I could catch some positions, really fight and not lose too much time. I could also have a good pace throughout, almost the best pace I’ve had all weekend, but not fast enough to catch the group for fifth position. Finally the one behind me was a bit faster, it was Morbidelli and in the end he did three very fast last laps and I could not overtake him because just following him was not so easy. I lost eighth position because of this but still they are points for the Championship.
“The target at the moment is fifth position in the Championship; to really focus on this, finish all of the races and to take podiums, because like this I can achieve it.”
#2 Josh Herrin: P21
“The race went well but my start was terrible. Starting that far back on the grid didn’t help us at all.
“On the third lap we were eighteen seconds down so to finish the race just thirty three seconds down was really good for me. We were consistently going faster than we did all weekend and feeling more confident I was able to catch West and Krummenache to pass them.
“The track here was kind of difficult to learn so I’m happy that we did as well as we did and improved twelve positions from our qualifying spot. This race has helped me to feel more focused and I’m really pleased to get a result like this to build off and go into Silverstone with.”
Gary Reynders – Crew Chief Johann Zarco: “We struggled until the middle of qualifying with the set-up on our bike, then we actually went back to our basic setting that we had at the beginning of the season.
“In the Warm Up Johann had to adapt himself still a little bit because he was not used to ride the bike anymore. I think in the end it was the right decision for us to do, to go back to something that he understands more, compared to what we have used over the last few races.
“Overall in the race I know he did the maximum that he could do and we will continue to do our work like we are doing now from the qualifier on for the next GP and try to get more points than we did this weekend.”
Mark Woodage – Crew Chief Josh Herrin: “Josh’s performance today was very good. Despite the start he remained consistent and positive, lapping over one second faster than qualifying.
“Josh is finally starting to believe in himself and the bike and if this can be brought to qualifying, I believe we can start better in the next race and score points.”
More, from a press release issued by AGT Rea Racing:
Moto2 Race: Set up problems persist for AGT REA Racing
AGT REA Racing were disappointed to finish the bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky in 26th position, having struggled with bike set up all weekend at Brno. Gino Rea comments on a frustrating weekend at the circuit where he enjoyed a victory in the World Supersport Championship in 2011.
Gino Rea:
“My pace was quite consistent in the race but I lost some time in the first couple of laps. I almost reeled in the large group in front of me but I was pushing so hard in every corner and having lots of moments. In the end I couldn’t quite get close enough. The warm up bike setting didn’t work so we went back to the qualifying settings and I was able to replicate the pace I did in qualifying but couldn’t go any quicker. I feel like I was riding good but we need to qualify higher up and need a little bit more pace. We still have work to do with the bike so we will keep plugging away. I’m looking forward to my home race at Silverstone, hopefully we can make the improvements needed so we can qualify higher. I can’t wait to see the British fans!”
Dave Peterson, Team Principal:
“I’m frustrated. This Moto2 game is a lot harder than I thought. We are still searching to put the right bike under Gino. Maybe by Silverstone we’ll have more of it figured out but we’re not going to give up!”
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone on August 31st will be Gino Rea’s home race.
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
Difficult day for Corsi and Pasini at Brno
It was a demanding race for the NGM Forward Racing riders at Brno, that this weekend hosted the GP of Czech Republic.
Simone Corsi, who took the start from the second row of the grid, struggled a lot at the beginning of the race to find the rhythm. He was suffering from lack of rear grip and he finished 12th.
It was a difficult race also for his team mate Mattia Pasini, who finished 17th. Mattia did a very good start and in the first laps he was able to stay in the top10 positions. Then, in the second part of the race, he started to suffer a lot with the rear and he had to ride more conservatively.
Simone Corsi
“I cannot be satisfied with this result. It has been the most difficult race since the start of the season. In the first laps I struggled a lot to find the feeling with the rear, so I could’t push. In the second part of the race I found my rhythm, but unfortunately I had lost the contact with the front guys. Fortunately in the end I managed to recover some positions and to earn some good points for the championship. I’m still 5th and I look forward to race in Silverstone.”
Mattia Pasini
“With the team we did a very good job during the weekend, but in the race something didn’t’t work. We had a very good front set up but I was struggling a lot with the rear. I did a good start and I was in the top10, but in the second part of the race, when I had less feeling with the rear, I started to loose positions. I look forward to the next race to get a good result.”
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
Difficult race for Anthony West and Roman Ramos
QMMF Racing Team riders Anthony West and Roman Ramos ended a difficult Czech Grand Prix in 22nd and 27th position. West, who had also struggled in qualifying, didn’t manage to recover due to a mix of different problems, with his engine as well as with a lack of tyre grip. Ramos, who was full of confidence after dramatic improvements on the second day of practice, was also surprised by a lack of rear tyre grip in the race and wasn’t able to match his strong pace in qualifying and the warm-up session.
Anthony West – 22nd place
“At the beginning of the race, I felt quite strong behind the group that I was in. I could always catch them, but it soon turned out that there was no way for me to get in front. I had a bunch of problems, like a lack of grip and a lot of chattering, but my main issue was speed. The engine is really slow and all weekend I had a problem with the gearbox, which was jumping out of third to neutral. In practice, I didn’t have a really good chance to compare my engine with the others, but in the race I realized that it was just as slow as during the last Grand Prix in Indianapolis.”
Roman Ramos – 27th place
“The race didn’t turn out the way we hoped and expected. On day one, we had trouble with the set-up and we were way back in the field, but we managed to fix things on Saturday and we had a good bike that allowed us to put better lap times in. We left the bike the way it was for today and in the warm-up I was fast again and I was able to stay with a bunch of other riders. We had a good rhythm and high hopes for the race. But as soon as the race started, I realized that the rear tyre had no grip at all. I had lots of problem under braking and when opening the throttle on the corner exits. I was about a second per lap slower than in the warm-up and it wasn’t a good race. At least, yesterday’s practice and this morning’s warm-up were good, which gives me hope for the future!”